Ryman Hospitality Properties announced a partnership with Lincoln Property Company to handle the planning, leasing, and development of 130 acres in Donelson next to Opryland on Friday.
The property is located in the area bordering Briley Parkway, McGavock Pike, and Pennington Bend Road, and the hope is the development will bring in both housing and business.
"It gives Nashville another great site to attract another great employer," metro councilman Jeff Syracuse said. "This would be phased in depending on the markets and what-not, so this isn't going to be a 130 acre development that happens all at once."
Possibilities included at this time include bringing in everything from a regional or corporate headquarters to a local grocery store.
While many are in favor of developing the area, others have their hesitations of bringing more growth to the area.
"One of the biggest criticisms you always hear is develop first, think about infrastructure last. Well, in this case, we actually have an infrastructure plan," Syracuse said, adding that Ryman Hospitality looked into traffic impacts and that they would work with city and state officials to put a plan in place.
In addition, the hope would be that affordable housing could be provided in the area so that the commute in and out of the area would be minimal.
"The idea ist o make it more workforce-style housing that supports those jobs in the 30th largest hotel in the world, the Opryland Hotel, plus all the other hotels, the retail, the restaurant, and the attractions that are in the Music Valley/Opryland area," Syracuse said.
An exact timeline hasn't been given for the project, but plans are currently underway.
Ryman Hospitality Properties provided a statement on the project, with their chairman adn CEO saying in part:
"As the owners of one of the few remaining large tracts of developable commercial land in the Metro area, we see a tremendous opportunity to bring a high-caliber project to Donelson that will be complementary to our existing assets and the surrounding community. We believe this development has the potential to attract a regional or corporate headquarters that will bring additional direct and indirect employment to Donelson. We are also particularly excited about the planned multifamily housing so that people who work in these offices and surrounding businesses have the opportunity to live nearby."
